1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to continuous single strand hot rolling mills of the type producing bar and rod products, and is concerned in particular with an improved layout of the rolling equipment in the finishing section of the mill.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a typical continuous hot rolling mill of the type producing bar and rod products, billets are heated in a furnace and are then rolled in roughing and intermediate sections of the mill before being directed to the mill finishing section. The finishing section does what its name suggests, namely, to finish roll products in various sizes and to prescribed tolerances.
Typical mill finishing sections include one or more multi-stand rolling units with associated water boxes, shears, pinch rolls, etc. Conventional arrangements of such equipment impose undue restrictions on the range of finished products that can be efficiently produced from a selected size of feed stock supplied by the intermediate mill section.
The finishing mill layout of the present invention is largely free of the such restrictions, thus providing the mill operator with the ability to efficiently roll a wide range of finished products from a selected feed stock size.
In accordance with the present invention, multi-stand rolling units are aligned on different pass line segments. At least some of the rolling units are shiftable onto and off of their respective pass line segments, and switch mechanisms are operable in concert with the selective positioning of the shiftable rolling units to accommodate the rolling of a broad range of finished product sizes from a single feed stock.
These and other features and objectives of the present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: